SCTCC worked with TLC Toys, which creates thousands of wooden toys a year - all with unpaid volunteers. Since 1990, TLC Toys has made over $5 million worth of toys for those in need, creating anything from piggy banks to jewelry boxes.

In the past, the company had an agreement with the prison system, where inmates would finish the toys, but that partnership recently ended.

Jay Carlson is a carpentry professor at SCTCC, he says he was approached by one of his students who had a relative involved with TLC Toys. The idea was shared with the class, and they agreed to partner with TLC to help stain and lacquer 300 toys as a community service project.

"It's just a small amount of what TLC does overall, but this was a good project for our students-it gave them a good sense of community to work on this," Carlson says.

The students worked on wooden cradles, jewelry boxes and kaleidoscopes. The toys will be donated to local children in need, just in time for the holidays.